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Bulă (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbulə]) is a fictional stock character of Romanian humor.
Bulă, a buffoon and coward, was "born" during the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime of Communist Romania.[1] The name, among other interpretations, is a one-letter deformation of "pulă", a Romanian vulgar slang for "penis".[2] Bulă is young, he is funny, he has an attitude, and he has an answer for everything. He can be a hero with modesty and, equally, he can fail with dignity; no one can firmly say whether he is stupid or just a trickster. Bulă is the descendant of Păcală and Tândală, friend of Ițic and Ștrul, less educated, but with an equally sharp tongue.[3]
In 2006, the Romanian Television conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considers the 100 greatest Romanians of all time. Bulă was voted to be the 59th greatest Romanian (compare with humoristic voting for 100 greatest Finns).
Silvian Centiu, commenting on his show, A Transylvanian in Silicon Valley, wrote: "When in San Francisco and in New York I mentioned Bula, the omnipresent character in Romanian jokes, I was delighted to hear audience members laugh before I finished the joke – I knew they were Romanians."[4]
Sample Bulă jokes
[edit]At school: "Children, who can tell what is the main goal of Socialism?" Bulă raises his hand. The teacher groans, "Oh no, Bulă, none of your nonsense." – "But I do know the answer! The main goal of socialism is the well-being and happiness of the man... And I even know who this man is."[1]
Bulă's April Fool's Day joke: "Mommy, mommy! Dad hung himself in the garage!" – The mother rushes to the garage, finds nothing, and Bulă is laughing. – "Ha-ha fooled you! He hung himself in the attic."[1]
Bulă was walking down the street one day and a man asked him: "Bulă, where are you going?" – "Huh, how do you know I'm not coming?"[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Popescu, Adam (March 29, 2009). "Viața și destinul lui Bulă" [The life and destiny of Bulă]. Evenimentul Zilei (in Romanian). Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ Volkan, V. D. (1995). "Totem and taboo in Romania: A psychopolitical diagnosis. Archived 2019-11-28 at the Wayback Machine" Mind and Human Interaction, 2: 66-83.
- ^ a b Tănase, Monica (April 20, 2006), "Cu nostalgie despre Bulă", Dilema veche (in Romanian), retrieved September 4, 2024
- ^ "A Transylvanian in Silicon Valley". www.atransylvanian.com.